Release 1 of the Ultranet will be rolled out in schools from early May 2010. Benefits include

24/7 anywhere access for students, teachers and parents
capturing a complete record of student progress over time (regardless of which school the student, teacher of parent is associated with)
data being stored overtime and can be analysed at the individual school, class, student or system level
providing teachers with a rich, readily accessible source of information about each learner to inform personalised curriculum planning and delivery
enabling students to monitor and take greater responsibility for their own learning
facilitating knowledge transfer and sharing across schools and the system
web 2.0 technologies (Blogs, Wikis, Calendar, Image gallery, My Bookmarks, Google Maps, My Communities, Polls, Notices, RSS & Quicknote)
communication, collaboration, publishing and sharing with peers within and across schools
driving leading practice in online curriculum planning, delivery and assessment
improving student learning outcomes giving them access to online learning activities, resources and lesson plans tailored to suit individual development needs
improving student pathways and transitions by allowing academic records and achievements to be continuous and move with students from year to year and school to school.
Teachers and careers counsellors being able to provide better guidance and advice to students, as they will be able to refer to their entire achievement records to understand the strengths of students.

All teachers are required to use the Ultranet once it has been rolled out in your school. Take a look at the sample indicators on the right to guide the development of statements in your teacher Performance & Development Plan.

Release 1 Space

Images

Features

Home

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Every student and teacher will be able to access email from within the Ultranet
Teachers existing Edumail account will be linked into the Ultranet
Individuals can configure this space to suit their needs (similar to iGoogle)
Applications to choose from include (Blogs, Wikis, Calendar, Image gallery, My Bookmarks, Google Maps, My Communities, Polls, Notices, RSS & Quicknote).
Links to Primary or Secondary Connect sites for students.
Teachers and students will be able to access 'My Content'

Connect

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For the first time content will be in one place
Teachers and students can choose to either search for content from a global search bar, or go directly to their own content via ‘My Content’ in the global navigation
Teachers and students will be able to search for quality assured curriculum resources from within the Ultranet
Teachers and students can search a combination of their school content and tap into system content which is available in FUSE like Connect, Digilearn resources and resources being developed by a range of cultural organisations
All curriculum resources that are produced within a school will be searchable and available to all other teachers within the school

Communities

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Ability to access or create virtual communities for groups sharing a common purpose (ie: school administration, curriculum committee, student clubs, school council, planning committees, extra-curricular activities, sporting clubs, chess club etc).
A space for school communities to communicate
Customisation with school logo and colors
All communities must be moderated by at least one teacher

eXpress Space

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Landing page is similar to Facebook or MySpace
A personal space for reflection, sharing and gathering evidence of learning
A professional portfolio for teachers
A digital portfolio for students
Learning goals for students (teachers able to comment on)
A portlet dedicated to learning contacts (added by student and by default students from their class, teachers, and parents)
A wall where the students friends, teachers or parents can post messages
A blog where students can create journals or have discussions with teachers, students and parents
Ability to upload and share appropriate photos in an image gallery

Collaborative Learning Spaces

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teachers can set up collaborative learning activities for students, using Web2.0 collaborative tools
Open – any teachers can add themselves to the community
Restricted – teachers can request a membership from the administrator
Closed – members have to be invited by the administrator so you can’t view them unless you are a member
Teachers can easily set up learning activities for groups of students, whole classes, students across classes (including students from other schools).

Design Spaces

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only available to teachers
teachers can interact with other teachers to design/plan curriculum and learning activities before they are released to students in the Collaborative Learning Spaces
Teachers can have shared discussions about resources, research, problems of practice
Teachers will be able to interact with other teachers from within their school or across government schools within these spaces, increasing teachers collegiate support
ability to set up a document library with a range of articles/readings to share and discuss
ability to create a unit of work and decide on the number of pages they want, the focus of each page and the applications which are to appear on each page